A cattle-ranch college for future Yalies goes co-ed Deep Springs College, a small and storied institution of higher learning set on a cattle ranch in California, is going co-ed. Founded in 1917, Deep Springs is a highly selective two-year college unlike any other: it enrolls just 26 students, all men, for a two-year regimen of study and toil. Most graduates go on to equally selective four-year colleges. By “equally selective,” I mean Yale. (The Washington Post)

Thieves Taking ‘T’ Off Ga. Tech Signs Georgia Tech officials are asking students to lay off stealing the letter “T” from signs on campus. The missing letter from signs all over the campus has cost Georgia Tech more than $100,000 in repairs. From stadium signs to even book return boxes in front of the campus library, the letter has disappeared. (Fox 5 TV via University Business)

Hamilton College puts QR code on admissions poster There is a shortage of new ideas in college recruiting, and each one has a brief shelf life. Kudos, then, to Hamilton College in New York for being the first institution to think of printing a giant Quick Response code as an admissions poster. The poster went out this fall to high school guidance offices around the nation, where dozens of posters compete for the attention of prospective applicants. (The Washington Post)

Is the SAT losing its edge? More graduating seniors took the SAT last year than ever, 1.65 million. So why are the scores declining, and why is the best-known and most fearsome college-entrance test in U.S. history losing its edge? (The Washington Post)

About the blogger

Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s in European political economy from the London School of Economics.